There had been a raid on the Depot of The Royal Irish Fusiliers, Gough Barracks, Armagh by the IRA in June 1954 when a quantity of weapons was stolen. Another raid was attempted on 12 December 1956 but an alert sentry opened fire on the IRA when a bomb was placed against a wall of the barracks. The explosives, two charges of Gelignite and detonators, were examined by the Commanding Officer, Major B D H Clark MC, who concluded that there was a grave danger and moved everyone away. Although as far as he could tell, the charge might explode at any moment, he called for a rope provided by WOII (RQMS) James O’Neill, who, working voluntarily with efficiency and alacrity, played an active part in tying the cord and rope to each charge and in jerking them to see if they were reasonably safe to handle. Then Major Clark personally loaded them into a jeep and drove to a field where he deposited them in a place, away from civilian housing, where an explosion would do no harm. The explosives were subsequently found to be in a dangerous condition

Subsequently Major Clark’s award of the George Medal (GM) was published in the London Gazette of 7 May 1957:

For disarming a dangerous and desperate prisoner and for great personal courage in removing a demolition charge that was liable to explode at any moment.

RQMS O’Neil’s was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct and his entry in the Gazette stated that it was:

For devotion to duty in the face of danger when dealing with explosives placed in position by terrorists.